Method of making an expansible retractable closure



July 5, 1955 D. M. BRESLOW ET AL 2,712,513

METHOD OF MAKING AN EXPANSIBLE RETRACTABLE CLOSURE Original Filed Feb. 11, 1950 .ZPVVEA/2'0R5: DONALD BPEsmW OPLA/VD 5.5c/1EsvoLp United States Patent 6 lViETHOD 0F F/IAKING AN EXPANSIBLE RETRACTABLE CLOSURE Donald M. Bresiow, overly Hills, and Drland S. Schesvoid, Los Angeles, Calif assignors to Donald M. Bras low, doing business as The {Iurtition Co., Los Angeles, Calif.

Griginal application February 11, 1951), Serial No. 143,714. Divided and this application October 13, 1952, Serial No. 314,502

8 (Ilaims. (Cl. 154-117) This invention relates to a method of forming an expansible-retractable closure, said closure being constituted by an expansible-retractable frame member having supported upon the opposite sides thereof by means of supporting means disposed upon its upper and lower edges, first and second fabric webs which constitute the shroud for said frame member.

This application contains subject matter divided from our copending application for Folding Flexible Partition, Serial No. 143,714, filed February 11, 1950, and disclosing the detailed construction of a closure of the type manufactured by the application of the steps of our method. For specific details of the construction and mode of operation of an expansible-retractable closure of the character manufactured by the application of our method, reference is made to the above referred to copending application.

It is a conventional practice in the manufacture of flexible expansible-retractable closures of the character under consideration to suspend the frame thereof in vertical position on a conveyor or other means of transportation and to assemble the webs on opposite sides thereof by stretching the webs across the frame while the frame is supported in a said vertical position. Where expansible-retractable closures of considerable height are manufactured, it is necessary to provide stages of scaffolding which permits the employee fabricating the closures to work at different heights. Furthermore, it is frequently very difficult to properly support the relatively large lengths of flexible fabric utilized as the webs on opposite sides of the frame upon the frame during the manufacturing process so that wrinkling or excessive tautness in the webs after their application to the frame is frequently encountered. it is, therefore, an object of our invention to provide a method of fabricating eXpansible-retractable closures which eliminates the necessity for the provision of conveyor means to support the frame of the closure in vertical position during the fabrication of the closure and which substitutes therefor a corrugated supporting form member on which the entire closure can be fabricated.

To eliminate the necessity for providing staging, scaffolding, or other supports for the Workers on relatively high closures, we have found it desirable to dispose the above referred to corrugated form member in a substantially horizontal plane, thus permitting the entire manufacturing process to be conducted by the employees at floor or waist level and eliminating the necessity for the provision of expensive scaffolding or stages. Due to the horizontal disposition of the corrugated form member, it is possible to more equally distribute the fabric webs thereupon and upon the frame member which is ultimately disposed thereupon, thus eliminating tautness or slackness resulting from conventional methods of manufacturing closures of the character under consideration.

In general, it can be said that our method of manufacturing an expansible-retractable closure materially reduces the capital investment in conveyor and scaffolding ice systems encountered in the application of prior art methods and results in the production of a product which is superior in many respects to those produced by prior art methods;

Other objects and advantages of the method of our invention will be apparent from the consultation of the following specification and the accompanying drawing which is for the purpose of illustration only and in which:

Fig. l is a fragmentary perspective view of a corrugated form member utilized in the practice of the method of our invention;

Fig. 2 discloses the first step of applying the first web to the corrugated form member;

Fig. 3 shows the application of the supporting members to the first web;

Fig. 4 shows the disposition upon the first web of the frame member; and

Fig. 5 discloses the disposition of web on the frame member.

in the practice of the method of our invention, we utilize a form it said form being of corrugated configuration and being disposed in a substantially horizontal plane. The form can be made of wood or sheet metal and may be disposed upon supporting legs, a table, or upon the floor of the factor in which folding closures are manufactured. The apexes 11 of the corrugations of the form iii are so spaced that the distance therebetween is substantially identical with the distance between the apexes of the individual corrugations of the folding closure to be manufactured thereupon, when the closure is in its expanded condition.

Expansible-retractable closures of the character under consideration include a first web 15 constituted by an elongated length of fabric of either a fibrous or a plastic nature. When the closures are of considerable length, the first Web is usually constituted by a plurality of segments 16 of fabric which are secured in abutting relationship with each other by sewing or other means of securement to define a juncture or seam line 18 between said abutting edges. These juncture lines 18 between the segments 16 constituting the first web 15 may be more or less conspicuous, depending upon the texture and color of the material utilized in forming the first web 15. However, in the practice of the method of our invention, as will be indicated below, we assemble the first webs of the closures in such a manner that the juncture lines 18 between the individual segments 16 of fabric are rendered slightly, if at all, noticeable to the eye of the casual observer.

When the fabrication of the first web 15 in the above described manner is completed, it is laid across the form 1% and urged into conformity with the configuration of the form it: by forcing the fabric down into the individual corrugations of the form 10 As the first web 15 is being thus arranged, care is taken to arrange the juncture lines 18 between the individual segments 16 of the first web 15 in parallelism and in overlying relationship with the apexes ll of the individual corrugations of the form 10. The purpose of such arrangement will be made evident when the entire closure, in its assembled form, is considered.

In Fig. 2 of the drawing, the fabric web 15 is shown as spaced above the upper surface of the corrugated form member if? for purposes of clarity, but it is clear that when the fabric web 15 is urged into conformity with the configuration of the form it) that the fabric web 15 is snugly fitted over the form, all wrinkles and folds being carefully eliminated to prevent the occurrence of such wrinkles and folds in the finished product.

After the first fabric web 15 has been accurately registered with the form member 10, supporting means 20, constituted by individual lengths of fibrous or plastic fabric which serve as supporting members 21, are secured the second fabric to the opposite edges of the first fabric web in spaced web 15 as shown in Fig. 3.

Another advantage of the method of our invention is the fact that, unlike conventional methods of fabricating closures of the type under consideration, we have discarded completely such expedients as sewing or impalement for securing the supporting members 21 to the frame of the closure and utilized, instead, glue or other adhesive for adhesively afiixing the supporting means to the upper surface of the fabric web 15 at opposite edges thereof.

After the supporting means 20 have been adhesively affixed to the upper surface of the first web of fabric 15, the supporting frame 25 of the closure is extended to its normally expanded condition and deposited upon the upper surface of the first web of fabric 15. The frame 25 includes a plurality of hingedly attached leaves or plates 26 which have attached thereto vertical stiifeners 27 to secure the hinge plates 26 at the top and bottom of the frame 25 to each other, as best shown in the above referred to copending application. When the frame 25 is deposited upon the upper surface of the first web of fabric 15, the weight of said frame is imposed upon the recently applied supporting means 20 serving to press the supporting means 20 more firmly into adhesive engagement with the upper surface of the first web of fabric 15 to insure that the adhesive afiixation of the supporting means 20 to the first web of fabric 15 will result in a permanent and secure bond between the supporting means 20 and the opposite edges of the first web of fabric 15. Although a space is shown between the supporting means 20 and the underside of the frame 25 in Fig. 4 of the drawing for purposes of clarity in disclosure, it is, of course, obvious that the entire weight of the frame rests upon the supporting means 20 and the first web of fabric 15 and the weight of the frame 25 alone is sufiicient to force it into close contiguity to the upper surface of the first web of fabric 15 to insure uniformity of distribution of the first web of fabric 15 on the frame 25.

A second web of fabric 30 is then fabricated from a plurality of fabric segments 31 by attaching adjacent edges of the fabric segments 31 together at seam lines 32 by means of sewing or other means of attachment. Of course, if the closure 35 which is the end product of the application of the method of our invention is a relatively small one, the necessity for providing first and second fabric webs 15 and 30 which are composed, respectively, of a plurality of fabric segments 16 and 31 is eliminated since single sheets of fabric can be utilized as the webs on either side of the frame 25.

- After the second fabric web 30 has been completed, it is laid across the upper surface of the frame 25 which, as previously indicated, is resting on the upper surface of the first web of fabric 15 in the form 10. The second web of fabric 30 is then urged into conformity with the configuration of the upper surface of the frame 25 and, as best shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing, the seam lines 32 are so positioned that they overlie the hinge points on the frame 25'which are innermost when the frame 25 and the closure 35 of which it constitutes a part are in their expanded positions. Thus, the placement of the seam or juncture line 18 of the first fabric web 15 and the placement of the seam or juncture line 32 of the second fabric web 30 disposes the juncture lines 18 and 32 at hinge points on the frame 25 where the juncture lines are least noticeable and are hidden in the bottoms of the corrugations defined by the frame 25 on opposite sides of the closure 35. Thus, the juncture lines between the segments of fabric constituting the first and second fabric webs 15 and 30 are not visible to the eye of the casual observer, and a ma-,,

terial improvement in the appearance of the closure 35 constructed in accordance with our invention isachieved.

After the second fabric web 30 has been equally distributed over the expanded frame 25, the supporting means 20 constituted by the supporting members 21 are folded over the hinge leaves 26 constituting the frame 25 and tucked underneath the opposite edges of the second web of fabric 30. The supporting members 21 are then ad-' hesively afiixed to the undersides of the second web of fabric 30 to secure the second web of fabric 30 in operative relationship with the frame 25 and with the oppositely disposed first web of fabric 15.

After the completion of the assembly of the various components of the closure 35 in accordance with the steps of the method of our invention, the various items of hardware of a suspensory nature, not shown, which are utilized in suspending the closure in a room opening, or other area, are applied to the top edge thereof and the assembled closure 35 is removed from the form 10.

Thus, it is obvious that, by the application of the steps of the method of our invention, we eliminate costly conveying and assembling means conventionally utilized in the manufacture of closures of the type under consideration. Furthermore, we insure the equal distribution of the first and second webs of fabric 15 and 30 on the interior frame 25 by equally distributing the first and second fabric webs on the frame 25 in an expanded position thus eliminating tautness or looseness encountered when such closures are assembled by conventional methods. Furthermore, by the adhesive afiixation of the first and second fabric webs 15 and 30 when the webs are disposed in horizontal position, we eliminate undue strain. upon the edges of the first and second fabric webs 15 and 30 to insure maximum adhesion between the supporting means 20 and the first and second fabric webs 15 and 30.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a method of assembling an extensible-retractable partition, the steps of: placing a member forming one side of said partition on a rigid form having a configuration identical to that of the partition in its extended position; attaching supporting means for said member to the side thereof remote from said form; disposing the frame of said partition in its extended position upon said member'on the side thereof remote from said form; placing a second member forming the other side of said partition on said frame; and attaching the opposite edges of said second member to said supporting means.

2. A method of assembling an extensible-retractable partition as defined in claim 1, wherein said form is disposed in a substantially horizontal plane.

3. In a method of a ssembling an extensible-retractable partition constituted by an internal frame, external fabric webs disposed on opposite sides of said frame and supporting means at the top and bottom of said frame for supporting said fabric webs on the opposite sides thereof, the steps of: placing a corrugated form member whose configuration is substantially identical with that of the partition in its expanded form in a substantially horizontal plane; laying a first fabric web across the corrugations of said form member and conforming said web to the corrugations thereof by forcing the web into said corrugations; attaching supporting means to the opposite edges of said first fabric web; expanding said internal frame and placing it on said first fabric web; disposing a second fabric web on said expanded frame and pressing said web into the convolutions of said frame to closure constituted by an expansible retractable internal frame member which is covered on opposite sides thereof by first and second fabric webs which are maintained in operative relationship with said frame member by supporting means disposed at the top and bottom edges of said frame member, the steps of: forming a first fabric Web by securing a pluraiity of fabric segments to each other; disposing a corrugated form member whose configuration closely approximates that of the expanded closure in a substantially horizontal plane; laying said first fabric web on said form member and conforming said Web to the configuration thereof; attaching supporting means to the upper surface of said first fabric web at the opposite edges thereof; disposing said frame member upon said first fabric web in expanded condition; forming said second fabric Web from a plurality of fabric segments; laying said second fabric web upon said frame member and urging said second fabric web into conformity with the configurations thereof; and attaching said supporting means to the underside of the said second fabric web at the opposite edges thereof to secure said first and second fabric webs in operative relation with each other and in supported relation with said frame member.

5. In a method of constructing an expansible-retractable closure constituted by an internal frame member having first and second fabric webs on opposite sides thereof and operably supported thereupon by supporting means on the top and bottom edges of said frame member, the steps of: placing a corrugated form in a substantially horizontal plane, said form conforming substantially to the configuration of said closure in a suspended position; laying said first fabric web across said form and urging said web into conformity with the configuration of said form; adhesively attaching a plurality of flexible supporting members to the upper surface of said first web at spaced intervals along the opposite edges thereof; disposing said frame in expanded position upon the upper surface of said first web; laying said second web upon said more member and urging said second Web into conformity with the configuration of said frame member in its expanded state; and adhesively attaching said supporting members to the underside of said second web at opposite edges thereof to maintain said first and second webs in operative and supported relationship with said frame member.

6. In a method of forming a closure which includes an internally disposed expansible-retractable frame member having secured to opposite sides thereof first and second fabric webs which are supported thereupon by means of supporting members disposed on top and bottom edges thereof, the steps of: laying said first fabric web across the convolutions of a corrugated form member whose configuration is substantially identical with that of said closure in its expanded state; adhesively attaching a plurality of flexible supporting members in spaced relation with one another to the upper surface of said first fabric web at opposite edges thereof; disposing said frame member in its expanded state upon said first fabric web; folding said flexible supporting members over the edges of said frame member; laying said second fabric web across said frame and urging said second fabric web in conformity wit the configuration of said frame; and adhesively attaching said folded portions of said flexible supporting members to the underside of said second fabric web at the opposite edges thereof.

7. In the manufacture of an expansible-retractable closure which incorporates an expansible-retractable frame having supported on the opposite sides thereof first and second fabric webs which are maintained in operative relation with said frame by supporting members disposed along the top and bottom edges of said frame, the steps of: forming said first fabric web from a plurality of fabric segments by securing the edges of said fabric segments in abutting relation; placing said first fabric web across a corrugated form member and urging said first fabric web into conformity with the configuration of said form member, the juncture lines between said segments being disposed at the apexes of the corrugations of said form member; securing a plurality of supporting members to the upper surface of said first fabric Web at spaced intervals along the opposite edges thereof; laying said frame upon the upper surface of said first fabric web in expanded condition; forming a second fabric web from a plurality of fabric segments by securing said segments with their edges in abutting relationship; disposing said second fabric web across said frame member and urging the juncture line between said segments into the bottoms of the corrugations defined by said frame member; and securing said supporting members to the underside of said first fabric web to secure said first and second webs in operative relation with said frame.

8. in the manufacture of an expansible-retractable closure including an internaliy disposed expansible-retractable frame having disposed on opposite sides thereof first and second fabric webs which are secured thereto by supporting members disposed at the top and bottom edges thereof, the steps of: forming said first web from a plurality of fabric segments by securing the edges thereof in abutting relation; providing a corrugated form whose configuration is substantially identical to that of said closure when disposed in extended position and disposing said form in a substantially horizontal plane; laying said first fabric web upon said form and urging it into conformity with the configuration thereof; disposing the juncture lines between said fabric segments of said first web along the apexes of the corrugations of said frame; adhesively attaching a plurality of supporting members along the opposite edges of said first fabric web in spaced relation with one another; disposing said frame member on said first fabric web in expanded condition; forming a second fabric web from a plurality of fabric segments by securing said segments in abutting relation with each other; disposing said second fabric web across said frame member and urging said second fabric web into conformity with the configuration of said frame member, the juncture iines of said segments being disposed in the bottoms of the corrugations of said frame member; and adhesively attaching said supporting members to the underside of said second fabric Web.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,877,950 Nordell Sept. 20, 1932 2,220,939 McGuire et al Nov, 12, 1940 2,528,829 Hintersteiner Nov. 7, 1950 2,583,308 Sloan Jan. 22, 1952 

1. IN A METHOD OF ASSEMBLING AN EXTENSIBLE-RETRACTABLE PARTITION, THE STEPS OF: PLACING A MEMBER FORMING ONE SIDE OF SAID PARTION ON A RIGID FORM HAVING A CONFIGURATION IDENTICAL TO THAT OF THE PARTITION IN ITS EXTENDED POSITION; ATTACHING SUPPORTING MEANS FOR SAID MEMBER TO THE SIDE THEREOF REMOTE FROM SAID FORM; DISPOSING THE FRAME OF SAID PARTITION IN ITS EXTENDED POSITION UPON SAID MEMBER ON THE SIDE THEREOF REMOTE FROM SAID FORM; PLACING A SECOND MEMBER FORMING TH E OTHER SIDE OF SAID PARTITION ON SAID FRAME; AND ATTACHING THE OPPOSITE EDGES OF SAID SECOND MEMBER TO SAID SUPPORTING MEANS. 